


Agron's Flowery Palace

by Gaia_bing



Category: Spartacus Series (TV), Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: War of the Damned
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Flowers, Fluff, Language of Flowers, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-14
Updated: 2013-12-01
Packaged: 2018-01-01 11:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1044460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gaia_bing/pseuds/Gaia_bing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Agron and Nasir's life together, viewed through flowers. A slash story.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Epithelantha micromeris

**Author's Note:**

> I know, I'm sorry, I promised that this would be just a one-shot, but...heh...with the aah...and the uhh...and it just wouldn't stop! :( 
> 
> So yeah, it'll have small but sweet chapters, with nothing but fluffely fluff fluff. Hope you like it! :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron receives the visit of an attractive unknown man at his flower shop.

**It was with a spiked cactus that this whole thing started.**  
  
"Agron's Flowery Palace" was the name of the shop that had just opened right across the street and it was a black-haired, darkened-eyes very attractive man that greeted the salesman's eyes as he stepped out of the back store and onto the front counter. With a warm smile, the short-haired, green-eyed giant of a man used the welcoming sentence he pronounced every time he heard the bell of the front door chime or the screeching tune of the main phone of the shop:  
  
"Hello, welcome to Agron's Flowery Palace! I'm Agron, how can I help you?"  
  
The long-haired man looked at this Agron-guy with a bit of nervousness on his face that was also in his voice when he said: "Um, hi, uh, I don't know if you could help me. I'm trying to find a gift for someone. She's just moved in right down the block from where I live and she's having a housewarming party in a couple of days and I have no idea what to give her. So I thought, why not a plant, they're pretty and they last a long time, right? But the thing is, I don't know shit about flowers and all that stuff and I want to give her something that has some meaning to it, you know? Something that'd make sense to be given for someone like her or something like that and not something that look like it was bought on a whim at the last minute. She's one of my best friend and I really care a lot about her. Could you help me out?"  
  
Having listened to his client's story intently, Agron gave the man in front of him a wide smile and clapped his hands together. "Why of course I can help you, my good man! Let me see what I can do." He opened the little door that separated the space between the cash register area and the rest of the store and accompanied by the smaller man, he began to look around for something that would fit this nice-looking client's request. As he looked over the large collection of different flowers and plants that harbored the different surfaces of his shop, he peppered the other man with questions to better seize what exactly would be fitting for this gift:  
  
"How old is this person?"  
  
"Does she have a significant other?"  
  
"Where did she live before? Why did she move?"  
  
"Does she have any other plants at home? Does she take care of them?"  
  
After getting his answers (22 years-old, she's totally single, lived with her boyfriend but found out he was cheating on her and she does have a couple of plants, but she doesn't have that whole lot of time to take care of them), Agron looked around some more and finally found something that he just knew would be perfect.  
  
"Aha!" he exclaimed as he stepped in front of a display that showed different cacti and settled his choice on a little round spiky thing, cute and not as threatening-looking as the long-spiked ones that were dispersed left and right from it.  
  
"There we go, this little baby is called an [_Epithelantha micromeris_](http://www.google.ca/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=607&tbm=isch&tbnid=rrIUtyqt0BBBuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/EPITHELANTHA/Epithelantha_micromeris/Epithelantha_micromeris_unguispina/Epithelantha_micromeris_v_unguispina_ex_Lodi.htm&docid=BcBJti3ccwsToM&imgurl=http://www.cactus-art.biz/schede/EPITHELANTHA/Epithelantha_micromeris/Epithelantha_micromeris_unguispina/Epithelantha_micromeris_v_unguispina_z_810.jpg&w=824&h=826&ei=EdaEUtK-NIev4AP2voGACg&zoom=1&iact=rc&page=1&tbnh=175&tbnw=164&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=268&ty=222&ved=1t:3588,r:1,s:0,i:82), this is a cactus and cacti actually mean endurance and you usually give them for someone who's gone through a hard time, so I'm sure she'll love it. And, since it's a cactus, it'll last a long time and I'm sure that your friend...uh?"  
  
"Chadara."  
  
"Chadara, right. And I'm sure your friend Chadara in going to like that it doesn't occupy that much space and doesn't need a lot of caring. Just pour some water from time to time and it'll be fine. What do you think?" asked Agron, holding out the spiky plant in front of the stranger.  
  
To which the long-haired client smiled, frantically nodded his head and replied: "Sold."  
  
And so it was with a nice-looking wrapping-paper that Agron made his first sell of the day to this nice-looking young man. And as the stranger exited the shop with a beaming face and a courteous thank you, Agron couldn't help but let his mind think:  
  
 _"I didn't even ask him his name."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meaning of cacti information came from here:
> 
> http://en.canadianflowerdelivery.com/flower-meaning/cactus.aspx


	2. Daisies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The nice-looking stranger returns to Agron's flower shop.

**It was with daisies that they saw each other again.**  
  
A couple of weeks later, in the middle of a very busy afternoon at the shop, Agron was occupied with showing an elderly lady what kind of flowers would look great on her newly-finished patio when he heard the bell of the front door ring and he smiled when he saw a familiar-looking pair of worn-out sneakers along with the black long hair (which was tied up in a ponytail this time around) of their current owner.

Of course he'd remember this particular client, even out of the hundreds he had seen ever since the other man had come inside of the shop and had bought his gift. With a charming smile and an amazing-looking body like that, who wouldn't? (With how many times that man's face came to Agron's day and night dreams, he knew he'd recognize this man in a flash.)  
  
Nodding his head at the smaller man, indicating that he needed another couple of minutes to finish his current transaction, Agron's eyes focused once again on the nice old lady and her choice of plants. After selecting a small bonsai and some beautiful irises that Agron enveloped once again into a beautiful wrapping paper, the elderly woman showered Agron with compliments over his apparent care and passion for the plants and flowers that surrounded the store and what he was doing with them, making Agron blush and the other new-but-not-that-new client grin happily. After promises of returning soon, the nice old woman left the store with her package in her hands, leaving the salesman and his awaiting client alone once again. Agron turned his attention to the still nice-looking smaller man and addressed him with his best jovial smile:  
  
"Hello, welcome to "Agron's Flowery Palace", but you must already know that. I'm Agron, which I'm sure you also already knew, what can I do for you, my good man? Did your friend Chadara enjoy her cactus?"  
  
The man in front of him looked at him with a bit of a shock on his face, as if he hadn't anticipated the salesman to either a) recognize him and b) still remember what he had bought a couple of weeks earlier and for who. Coughing out loud and regaining a little bit of his bravado, the smaller man put on his best smile and replied:  
  
"Actually, yes, she loved it. When I told her the real meaning behind the plant, she almost broke down in tears and asked me where I knew that stuff. When I told her that it was the nice florist from across the street that had both sold me that plant and revealed its significance, she said that she wanted to give you her thanks, so from her to you, through me, thanks."  
  
This made Agron's smile grow even wider and his entire day even brighter. He looked at the smaller man and asked him once again: "Well, since I doubt you came down here just to give me a six-letter message, what was it that you wanted this time around?"  
  
This made the pony-tailed man's spine straight itself up and he replied with a bit more of assurance in his voice than the last time that he was here looking for something: "Well, I was wondering if in addition of selling plants and flowers in pots, you were also doing bouquets?"  
  
Agron clapped his hands together, just like last time and joyfully replied: "Of course we do bouquets, my good sir! We even do special deliveries for special occasions." Together with his client, he began to walk to the cash register area and added: "What exactly was the occasion?"  
  
"Well, a friend of mine, and *not* the one that had a housewarming party, another one but still as pretty, gave birth just last night to the most beautiful little girl that you've ever seen, and since I'm on my way to the hospital right now to see her and you gave me such good advice the last time I was here, I was wondering if you could help me out pick out some flowers for her." Agron's client asked him.  
  
"Well, if you'll follow me to the fridge where we keep our freshly cut flowers, I'm pretty sure we can find something together that will fit exactly what you're looking for." Agron replied with a smile and together, they entered the cooler-aired area where were packed dozens of already-made bouquets of flowers on different high and low wooden shelves. Agron looked around for a bit and his eyes fell on what he thought would fulfill this nice-looking and nice-behaving man's request.   
  
"There we go, some very pretty [English Daisies](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Fx_mhlHsf8/T1wGwKq9XMI/AAAAAAAAFxg/WcFgYk2dMs0/s1600/English+Daisy1.jpg) for what I'm sure is a very pretty lady and her very pretty little girl. These ones are usually given for newborn babies, just like the one your friend just had and if you tell her that, I'm sure she'll love them even more than if you'd just given them to her on a whim." Agron said as he picked up a wrapped-up set of colorful-looking flowers and gave them to his appreciative-looking client, who said in return:  
  
"Wow, thank you. How do you know all that stuff about flowers and what they mean?"  
  
As they exited the fridge together and walked back over to the cash register area once again, Agron replied: "Years of studies, my good man. And books, lots and lots of books."  
  
The stranger looked at him with a small smile and added: "This whole flower-thing's really your passion, isn't it?"  
  
To which Agron replied, getting lost into his client's eyes for a moment: "Oh yeah, you have no idea."  
  
Shaking his head violently after a beat, partly to bring himself back to reality and partly to scold himself for his momentarily lack of professionalism, Agron made his way to the cash register and said: "Well, while we're here, how about a nice little greeting card to go with those nice flowers, what do you say?"  
  
To which the stranger smiled and replied: "Sure! I'm sure she'll love it."  
  
Agron took out a nice pinkish-folded paper, reserved for events suck as birthdays and babies and opened it up with a pen in his hands. Looking at his client one more time, he asked him: "Alright, what do you want to write in it?"  
  
And it was with his best writing hand that Agron wrote the nice message that his nice client wanted to address to his friend Naevia and her husband Crixus, congratulating them on the arrival of their new bundle of joy. And it was with a smile on his face that, after his client had left the shop with his hands full of flowers, Agron remembered the last line the other man had made him write:  
  
 _"Congrats and all of the happiness in the world for all the three of you._  
  
 _Love, Nasir."_  
  
 _"Nasir, his name's Nasir."_   he thought as he went on to his next client and the rest of the day with a dreamy look in his eyes.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English Daisy meaning: http://www.gouniqueandbeyondgiftgiving-ideas.com/flower-meanings-chart.html


	3. Yellow rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron receives some visitors at his shop, who ask him an unexpected request.

**It was with a yellow rose that they became friends.**  
  
A month or so went by without any news or appearances from Agron's new favorite costumer, Nasir. _Which was normal_ , he thought to himself as he was refurnishing some of his more empty shelves with newly potted plants, _someone usually didn't have that many occasions in such a short period of time that he or she has to go to the flower store that often._ But in the back of his mind, he did wish this Nasir had more occasions to come over to buy or order something from his shop. Ever since the smaller man had first stepped foot inside of the flower shop, Agron had secretly desired to know more about him, to see him outside of his work or at least strike up a conversation with him about something other than plants and flowers. But would he ever get a chance to actually see the other man again?  
  
His answer came into the unexpected appearance not from the man that had invaded Agron's recent thoughts and desires, but from a young couple, both seemingly in their late-twenties, with the woman pushing a stroller in front of her that seemed to be carrying a sleeping newborn baby inside of it. They didn't seem to be searching for something to buy, like the other clients coming into the store usually were, but instead seemed to be searching for **him** , with the way both of their faces seemed to light up when he had approached them and recited his welcoming spiel.  
  
The young woman pushing the stroller smiled at his greeting and asked him: "So, you're Agron, right? Hmm, I pictured you to be a bit taller than this, to be quite honest with you." The man alongside her nodded, making Agron raise an eyebrow at the both of them and look at them up and down a little bit unsure.  
  
"Hmm, I'm sorry, but am I supposed to know you?" he asked the woman, who suddenly blushed and she shook her head and chuckled.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry! You must think I'm some kind of a weirdo or something. I'm Naevia and this is my husband Crixus." the woman said, pointing to the man that had stepped into the shop with her and who smiled at Agron when she introduced him. She added with a smile: "It's just that a friend of mine has come to your store a couple of times in the past couple of months to buy some stuff and he hasn't stopped raving about you and your shop. And since the daisies that he bought when this little lady right here came into our lives," she pointed to the sleeping baby inside the stroller and continued, "came from here, I wanted to meet this mysterious Agron and see if he really was, as my friend would say, "all that and a bag of chips"."  
  
Agron listened to what this Naevia-woman was saying and tried to replace where he could have seen that "friend" of hers that she was talking about...  
  
Daisies...daisies...to whom had he sold daisies to? Naevia and Crixus...why did those names sound so familiar?  
  
....hold on just a minute....  
  
Daisies...Crixus and Naevia...newborn baby....  
  
It couldn't be, could it?  
  
Agron tried his luck and asked the woman in front of him: "Um, does your friend happen to be named Nasir, by any chance?"   
  
And his luck was rewarded when Naevia's smile widened and she replied with a bit of a wink: "Yes! He is! I was hoping you'd remember him somehow! I know he remembers you, that's for sure."   
  
This made Agron hot in his collar and he tried to change the subject if he didn't want to blush right there in front of his clients. He asked the both of them: "Well, what can I do for you then?"   
  
It was now time for Crixus to take over the conversation and he said: "Well, it's actually going to be Nasir's birthday tomorrow and me and my wife are throwing a surprise party for him at his place. Nothing fancy, really, just a couple of friends with some food and some drinks, that's all. And since you've been the subject of a lot of his conversations lately, we were wondering if you'd like to come. You'd only have to bring a gift and we'd provide everything else."   
  
Agron's mind exploded into a million of thoughts and feelings. The first one was a quick nod and a replied: "I'll be there." and the others included: not believing his luck that the man he hadn't forgotten about had not only remembered him, but was even praising him to his friends, happiness at the chance to maybe see Nasir outside of the environment of his flower shop and the most prominent one being:  
  
 _Oh God, oh God! What was he going to do? What was he going to bring? What was he going to wear!?_  
  
And so the next Saturday night, Agron found himself inside an apartment he didn't know, surrounded by people he didn't know, with the carefully wrapped present that he had brought sitting on a nearby coffee-table in the middle of other squared and rectangular-shaped boxes. He already had a drink in his hand, a bit shy around all of these unknown faces and he for one couldn't wait for Nasir to show up, at least he would be a face that Agron did in fact know.   
  
Naevia walked in front of the waiting crowd, gestured for them to look in her direction and said: "Alright people, Chadara just texted me, she and Nasir are just down the block and should be coming up any minute now. In about five minutes, I'm going to turn off the lights and everybody has to be as quiet as possible. When Chadara is going to open the door and turn the lights back on, I want everyone to yell out _"Surprise!"_ as loud as they can. Got it? Good." And with that, the crowd, along with Agron, stood there and waited for a while.

After the five minutes were up, Naevia did as she said she'd do and turned off the lights of the apartment. The awaiting crowd stopped talking and waited for the birthday-boy and his friend to come into the apartment. When they heard a giggling of a key and the sound of a man and a woman laughing together, they held out their breaths, awaiting for the door to open. When it finally did and the lights were turned back on, everybody in the living room area yelled out _"Surprise!"_ and Nasir held his hand on his chest and a wide smile appeared on his face, both shocked and happy at the same time to see all of his friends gathered in one room to celebrate his birthday.

And when his eyes fell on Agron, who held his drink up in the air in greeting, his smile turned from beaming to tender, as if he was moved that the taller man had agreed to come along too. 

*************  
The party was now in full swing, everybody was chatting, dancing, drinking and having a good time. The time for presents eventually came along and everybody gathered around a sitting Nasir, who had a pile of presents in front of him awaiting to be opened and he rubbed his hands together excitedly.   
  
"Alright, what should we start this with?" he said as his eyes scanned along the different boxes sitting in front of him. His first choice landed on a blue-wrapped square box that contained...  
  
A long, neatly-knitted black scarf, that was a gift from Naevia. After thanking her and pecking her on the cheek, Nasir moved on to a cylindrical small box that contained...  
  
Some yummy-looking chocolate, a gift from his best friend Chadara. After smiling at her in thanks and offering everybody a share of the sugary goodies, Nasir picked up what looked-like a gift basket wrapped in fine yellow silk-paper. As he tried to open the package with as much finesse as he could, so that he wouldn't tear off the delicate paper, he found himself face-to-face with...  
  
A clay pot containing a single [yellow rose](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ktVl1LGRbo/TV31-oxlTZI/AAAAAAAAJAs/PRA0VbK5Hzg/s1600/yellow+rose+flowers+wallpapers+%25284%2529.jpg) in the middle of it.  
  
Turning his eyes toward Agron and raising an eyebrow at him, somehow suspecting that this gift probably came from him, the taller man approached the birthday boy and said with a small smile:  
  
"You see, it's a yellow rose and yellow roses usually mean friendship. And since I didn't have a lot of time to buy you something, I brought something from my shop and I also um...brought my friendship, for you to have. I know it's not a lot and maybe I'll buy you something better when I'm a little bit more wealthy, so I hope you don't mind..."  
  
Nasir raised a hand in front of him to stop Agron's rambling and replied: "No, of course I don't mind. And of course I'll take your friendship. This is actually one of the nicest gift anyone has ever given to me. Thank you."  
  
Agron's smile widened and he replied softly: "You're welcome."

  
And the crowd around the pair looked at one another and they all seemed to silently agree on one point in particular:  
  
There was a spark between these two, that's for sure.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yellow Rose meaning: http://www.proflowers.com/guide/rose-colors-and-meanings


	4. Red Tulips

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron's dreams of revealing his crush to Nasir are dashed when someone else swoops in and takes his shot away from him.

**It was with red tulips that Agron became jealous.**  
  
Valentine's day was fast approaching and since that holiday was literarily like Christmas in the flower business, Agron really needed to get his shop sorted out and furnished to the roof with flowers and plants that spelled the word "Romance" if he wanted to earn some fine dough on that special day.  
  
He sighed as he put the last remaining piece on a fine assembly of freshly-cut red and purple flowers and tied them up together with a little white string. If there was one thing that was missing in his life, it definitely was romance. He had a business, he had a home, he had friends, but the one piece of the puzzle that he still longed for was someone to share his heart with. But if things went according to his plans, that too would change and pretty soon at that.  
  
Agron smiled as he looked over the far corner of the fridge. There, hidden behind a couple of soil bags and potting tools lay a special gift for a special someone. It was a carefully-picked bouquet of the finest [red tulips](http://www.hdwallpaperspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/tulip-flower-wallpaper4.jpg) that Agron possessed. He hoped that the receiver of this gift would be as happy to receive it that Agron had been happy to make it. Because with this bouquet, Agron would finally reveal his long-standing crush to his now best-friend, Nasir.  
  
Ever since Nasir's birthday a couple of months earlier, the friendship between the two of them had kept growing constantly. After the party, when everybody had left but the two of them, they had spent several hours on the balcony, chatting about their lives, told each  other stories and got to know the other better.  
  
Agron talked to Nasir about his flower business, his colleagues Spartacus, Varro and Duro, who was also his little brother. Nasir revealed that he was working as a videogame programmer in a small independent company that Agron had never heard of but, would love to find out more about, he talked about his own colleagues: Chadara, Saxa and Gannicus, who seemed to form a lovely couple with the way they had danced and made out at the party. They also both revealed that they were gay, single and hadn't really had that good of a love life in the past.  
  
After that night, it was pretty common to find Agron hanging out at Nasir's place on weekends when he wasn't busy, playing videogames along with him and on weekdays, Nasir would often drop by Agron's shop and the taller man would chat and teach him everything he knew about flowers and their different significances. And with the way Nasir's eyes lit up whenever Agron would show him a new plant and transmit to him his knowledge about it, Agron had a suspicion that the smaller man loved it.  
  
And Agron loved him. As more time went by and the more they knew about one another, what had started as a physical attraction for Agron soon turned into a school-boy crush and he recently realized that this crush had turned into love for the other man. And with the way Nasir would look at him sometime when he thought Agron was distracted by something else (but really wasn't) and the way the smaller man's touch would linger a second more than it was supposed to whenever his hand grazed Agron's skin, the taller man had a suspicion once again that Nasir felt the same thing as he did, or at least felt something for him. So this is what he wanted to find out, with a gorgeous bouquet, a nice candlelight dinner somewhere and who knew, maybe some "dessert" afterwards...  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the front bell and he stepped out of the fridge of the shop and went to the entrance area to greet his incoming customer.  
  
"Hello, welcome to Agron's Flowery Palace! I'm Agron, how..."  
  
But his welcoming speech was interrupted when his client, a well-suited, immaculate- coiffed and put-together dark-skinned man that he had never seen before in his shop raised a hand to stop him and replied in an annoyed huff: "It's alright, I know who you are, I've heard a lot about you and I really don't have a lot of time to do any kind of friendly greetings."  
  
Trying his best not to scowl at this man's seemingly rude behavior, Agron plastered on his best friendly smile and asked him: "Alright, what can I help you with then?"  
  
"I'm here to pick up a bouquet for Valentine's Day for a special someone, something that just screams "Romance" and since some of the workers at my father's bank have talked so kindly about you and your knowledge on plants, I wanted to see if you could help me find what I'm looking for." the man said, smiling widely and revealing a perfect set of clean white teeth, while he adjusted his tie with his hands.  
  
Being the good salesman that he was and not wanting to lose this costumer, Agron let go of his apprehension at the image the man in front of him seemed to present to the rest of the world (like a perfect ivory tower that contained all of the riches of the world, but would crumble in an instant if only one crack appeared in its foundations) and gestured for his client to follow him. "Why yes, I can certainly help you. But I think I'll need some more information to find something that'll suit your needs. Tell me, this special someone, is it your wife?" Agron asked the other man as he opened the fridge and together they stepped inside and began looking around the different flowers and plants on display.  
  
The client coughed a bit uncomfortably at Agron's question and answered: "Well, actually, it's a _he_."  
  
Agron smiled at the other man and said: "Oh, that's alright with me, don't worry about that. So tell me, is he your husband?"  
  
"No." the other man said, still following Agron.  
  
"Your boyfriend?" Agron asked once more.  
  
"Not really..." the client replied with a bit of nervousness in his voice.  
  
Agron stopped in his tracks and turned to face the other man. "What do you mean _"Not really?"_ " he asked him, raising a suspicious eyebrow.  
  
The suited man played with the golden cuffs that were situated on his wrists and looking up once more at Agron, he replied with more certainty in his voice: "Well, it's actually just a friend of mine, but I've harbored a crush on him for the longest time now and I want to use Valentine's Day to reveal my true feelings for him with the best bouquet of flowers that money can buy."  
  
Agron couldn't help but smile a little at what his client was saying and think _"Well, aren't we in the same boat, buddy?"_   and he replied with a pat on the other man's shoulder: "Well, let's see what I can do to make your wish come true."  
  
The other man smiled back at him and together they looked at different sets of bouquets, to see what would be best for this special occasion. But somehow, every time Agron thought he'd found something that would fit his client's request, the other man would frown at his suggestions and dismiss them like they weren't good enough. _"What the hell do you need me for if everything I propose is getting tossed out like yesterday's trash?"_   he thought bitterly as the other man once again rejected one of his idea and looked elsewhere. But not wanting to lose this sale to someone who looked like he had a lot of money and therefore could spend a lot in the shop if he wanted to, Agron put on his best smile and continued on, even though he was beginning to boil inside himself.  
  
After a couple of other rejections, leaving Agron thinking that they would probably freeze to death if his client didn't make up his mind on something and soon, his thoughts were once again interrupted by the other man, that was now in front of him, stopping dead in his tracks and his attention seemingly having being brought somewhere in particular inside the fridge.  
  
The other man nearly squealed out in joy: "Oh! That one! I want that one! It's perfect!" and when Agron stepped beside his client to see what exactly he was gushing over, his face turned to absolute shock and stupefaction when he realized what the other man wanted:  
  
It was the bouquet of red tulips that he had made for Nasir and that he had thought he had hidden for no one to see but somehow, his client had spotted it and now wanted it for himself.  
  
"Are...are you sure you want that one? I mean, I've got some red roses at the front that I'm sure your crush would love to receive..." Agron tried to say, but like a spoiled child, his client stomped his foot on the floor and insisted:  
  
"No! I want that one and nothing else is going to do!"  
  
Once again, not wanting to lose this sale, Agron had no other choice but to relinquish the bouquet that he had spent some much time putting together for his crush and gave it to another person for his own crush. He said with a bit of a frown, a bit sad to see all of his efforts go to someone else: "Well, alright, you can have it. And as a little tip, if you tell him that red tulips mean that you're declaring your love to him, I'm sure your friend is just going to melt at the thought that you put so much effort into his gift."  
  
Smiling at the salesman, the other man replied: "Why thank you, I'm sure he'll love this piece of information."  
  
As they finally stepped out of the fridge and made their way to the cash register, Agron turned toward the other man, who was proudly holding his (no, _Agron's_ ) set of flowers in his hand, and asked him: "Well, while we're here, may I interest you into buying a greeting card to go with those flowers? I'm sure your friend would fall even more in love with you if your tulips are accompanied by some kind words."  
  
The other man's eyes lit up and a smile spread on his face. "Yes, it's perfect! I'll buy one!" he said as he put the bouquet near the cash register and began to shuffle through the different pastel and colorful-looking cards. His choice set, he picked up what he'd selected and Agron added with a smile:  
  
"You know, for free, I can even write the message inside the card myself, if you want."  
  
This made his client's smile grow even wider and reply: "Yes, why don't you that? It'll save me the time and energy than if I do it myself."  
  
That thought made Agron grimace on the inside, but still not wanting to lose this sale, he continued on, even though this posh, spoiled, rude guy was really beginning to get on his nerves.  
  
He opened the card his costumer had selected and picked up a pen in his hand. Readying his hand to begin writing, Agron looked up at the other man and asked him: "Alright, what do you want your message to say?"  
  
The other man coughed and with his best poetic voice, he began to recite his message, Agron not far behind, putting it on paper:  
  
 _"If my love for you was like a stock,_  
 _I'd invest in it forever._  
 _If my love for you was inside a bank,_  
 _I'd protect it so that no one would steal it from me._  
  
 _You are my yield, my Euro, my Pesos, my US Dollar._  
 _With all of the money I possess, I'll buy you all of the riches of the world._  
 _Be with me, stay with me and together we'll travel on my yacht to the seven seas,_  
 _Sleep in the nicest hotels, eat the best food you'll want to try,_  
 _And you'll really see,_  
 _Just how much love money can really buy._  
  
 _With all of my love,_  
  
 _Castus."_  
  
 _"My god, what a prick! And a bad poet to boot!"_   Agron thought to himself as he finished putting the last touches on the greeting card and made this Castus-guy pay for everything that he'd purchased.  
  
One last detail needed to be written on the card, to make it more personal and that thought made Agron ask his client:  
  
"Hey, not to meddle into anything, but can you tell me your friend's name? I can write it on the envelope of the greeting card if you'd like."  
  
Castus bit his bottom lip and with a nod, decided to tell Agron the name of the man the flowers and the card were supposed to be addressed to:  
  
"Alright, just write: _"To Nasir"_."  
  
This made Agron froze his hand mid-stroke of the pen and look up at Castus.  
  
With wide eyes, he asked him: "Nasir? Nasir's his name?"  
  
Castus looked at him and with a nod, replied: "Yes, it is."  
  
"Is he about ye-high? Has long, black hair? Works at "Valle Gaming"?" Agron asked him, now not really sure he wanted to finish this sale after all.  
  
Castus glared at him for a second, but coughed out loud and replied: "Yes, it is him. Do you happen to know him?"  
  
Agron then decided to lie and responded: "Um, sort of. He's come here a couple of times too actually to buy some stuff and has told me a little bit about himself, but nothing much."  
  
"Oh, well alright. But if you'll excuse me, my chauffeur is waiting for me and I must be on my way. It was nice meeting you Agron and I hope you and your store do well in the future." Castus said as he made his way out of the flower shop, his hands full of everything he'd just bought.  
  
Still looking at the direction Castus had just left, all Agron could say into the air and at no one in particular was a mumbled: "Yeah, you too." As he walked to the back store, he called out into the air once again: "Sparts? Could you go to the front for a couple of minutes, I need to go outside for a moment." and when he heard a shouted "Got it!", he nearly sprinted out of the exit backdoor and when he saw that he was totally alone, that's when he let all of his frustrations go.  
  
Banging his head repeatedly against the brick wall in front of him, Agron yelled out to himself and for everybody else to hear: "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid!"  
  
What the hell had he just done?! Why did he just gave the bouquet of flowers, that he himself wanted to give to Nasir and reveal his feelings for him that way, to another guy he hadn't known about that was going to give it to Nasir and reveal his own feelings to him also that way? Why did he lie to Castus and told him Nasir was just a costumer and nothing more? Why hadn't Nasir ever said anything to him about this Castus guy? Why, why, why?  
  
In truth, Agron had known the answer the second he had made up his mind and decided to lie about his relationship with Nasir.  
  
Nasir deserved better than Agron. He deserved the sun and the stars and nothing cheaper. He deserved to be treated like the prince that he was and for that, he needed someone with the earnings to do it. As stuck-up, rude, snobbish and bad poetically as Castus really was, the fact of the matter is, the other guy was perfect compared to him and Agron was convinced that once he revealed his crush on the smaller man (with _his_ flowers, no less), Nasir would fall right into his arms.  
  
Right into the arms of that perfect Castus, with his perfect suit and his perfect teeth and his perfect hair and his chauffeur and his yacht and his money.  
  
And not into the arms of Agron, with his too short spiky hair, his jeans and his T-Shirts, his not-so-perfect teeth, his quaint little flower shop and nothing else.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Red Tulips meaning: http://www.plantingseedsblog.com/2011/08/tulip-symbolism-by-color/


	5. Nasir's concotion part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is one week later and Valentine's Day...so of course romantic stuff is going to happen!

**It was with a concoction of his own that Nasir made his real feeling known.**  
  
"Meh, stupid crappy Valentine's Day." a cranky Agron said to himself as he slumped against a crate in the back store of the flower shop. "Stupid crappy Valentine's day with the crappy little cupids and the crappy little hearts and the crappy little candies, with their crappy little couples and their stupid lovey-dovey crap!" he almost yelled out, banging his fists against his thighs in frustration.  
  
"Wow, someone's in a bad mood today." remarked Duro as he was eating his ham-and-cheese sandwich and raising an eyebrow at his big brother.  
  
Scowling, Agron turned his gaze toward his brother, narrowed his eyes and said: "Well, it's not everybody that's going to spend today with somebody. Sure, you've got nothing to complain about, you've got Kore! And I'm sure you guys' got plans for tonight..."  
  
Duro smirked at Agron's words and replied: "Oh yeah, we definitely got "plans" for tonight..."  
  
This made Agron sigh and point a finger at him. "See? So yeah, forgive me for being in a bad mood because I actually don't have "plans" for tonight!" he added. When he saw Spartacus enter the back store, he looked up at his colleague and asked him: "Hey Sparts! 'You up for something tonight? We could do one of our "Single Guys Night!" Beer, chips, boxing...what do you say?"  
  
Spartacus seemed to hesitate for a moment, making Agron squint his eyes in suspicion and ask him: "You've got "plans" for tonight too, don't you?"  
  
To which the other man scratched the back of his neck nervously and replied: "Y-yeah, I sort of got some things planned, with somebody..."  
  
Agron threw his hands up in the air in hopelessness and said: "Great, just great! And here I thought I had support against Valentine's Day, but noooo! Everybody's paired up with everybody!"   
  
Spartacus looked at Agron for a moment and asked him: "Well, why don't you ask Nasir if the two of you could do something together tonight? You guy are always hanging out, so why would today be any different?"   
  
Agron bowed his head and sighed sadly: "Nasir's probably busy eating caviar in Europe with Castus or something, he probably wouldn't have time for someone like me."  
  
Duro rolled his eyes at Agron's pitiful look and said: "Again?! Look, that thing with that Castus-guy happened like a week ago and you're still not over it?"   
  
"But he took *my* flowers and *my* chance with Nasir!" Agron whined like a child and crossed his arms in front of him.   
  
"But we don't even know that! Have you even talked to Nasir since that happened? Do you even know if Nasir actually likes Castus in that way?" Spartacus asked him and Agron looked up and replied with sad eyes:  
  
"N-no, I didn't, but he's never even told me about this guy, so why should I bother asking him about it? Doesn't matter anyway, he probably fell into Castus' arms the minute he finished reading that stupid poem that that stupid Castus made me write. He'll be much happier either way living the high life with that guy than be with a shmuck like me." With that, the boys' break was over and as Agron stood up and with another sad sigh, walked out of the back store, leaving his brother and his friend staring at one another with an exasperated look that seemed to say:   
  
_"Look at that poor fool in love."_  
  
 *********************  
  
After an extremely busy day (which was why the whole team of the Flowery Palace was present today), an exhausted Agron was the only one left that evening at the shop, the other guys having left to go on their dates or whatever they had planned for Valentine's Day, leaving the short-haired man alone, sweeping the floor and sighing sadly like he had been doing all throughout the day.

It was five minutes to closing time and Agron's mind was wondering what he was planning to do when he got out of there: get drunk, eat ice cream and have a good cry over his lack of a love life or maybe even rent a sappy romantic movie and curse out those stupid people on the screen for believing that love even existed. He didn't know and quite frankly at this point, he really didn't care. It was Valentine's Day night, he was all alone and he couldn't feel more stupid and more pathetic even if he wanted to.   
  
_Knock! Knock! Knock!_   
  
_Great, now what?_ Agron thought as he put his broom away and went to open the locked door. _Didn't people read the sign? Didn't they know that they were closing soon?_ And in reality, Agron wasn't really in the mood to be his jovial salesman-self right now. But, as they say, a sale's a sale even if it's at the last minute, so Agron closed his eyes, took a deep breath, put on the best fake salesman smile that he could muster and unlocked the front door of the shop to greet his unexpected last client of the day. He was about to go into his usual welcoming speech but his breath go caught in his throat when he noticed who exactly was on the other side of the door once he'd opened it.  
  
He blinked once, twice and with a surprised voice, he said: "Nasir?"  
  
Seemingly out of breath, like he had been running to get there, the smaller man smiled at Agron and replied: "Hey, um, sorry if I'm so last minute, but I really need your help on something."   
  
Raising his eyebrows at the other man and wondering what the hell he was doing here so late at night, Agron opened the door wider and let Nasir inside the store, who entered and gave him a grateful smile. Castus or no Castus, Nasir was still his best friend and Agron would gladly help him out anyway that he could.  
  
Agron locked the door behind the intruding man and asked him as he picked up his broom once more to continue his sweeping: "So, what can I do you for?"   
  
Nasir looked around the shop like he was searching for something in particular and then turned, looked at Agron and replied "I'm looking to buy a bouquet of flowers for someone really special and since you're the expert around here, I wanted your advice on what to pick so that my choice captures exactly what I want to express to that person."   
  
_Oh great_ , Agron sighed sadly to himself once more, Nasir must want to buy some special flowers for Castus and forgot to do it until now. _Way to rub salt in the wound there, buddy_. _But_ , Agron thought, _a friend is still a friend_ and not matter how much it hurt, it was better to make one of his friends happy than make Nasir sad because the other man wanted nothing to do with him as more than that.   
  
Putting the broom back where he had left it earlier and rubbing his hands together as he acted with the most excitement that he could gather, Agron said: "Sure! I'll be glad to help! Do you want a pre-made bouquet or do you want to make one yourself?"   
  
Nasir smiled and answered as they entered the fridge: "I want to make one myself. I don't think you have any one in here that's pre-made that's exactly what I want."   
  
As they began to look around, Nasir more excitedly than Agron, the taller man wanted to ask Nasir some question about his and Castus' relationship, but without revealing that he knew about the two of them being a couple. So, he began to pepper Nasir nonchalantly with the vaguest questions that he could find:   
  
"So, that special somebody, is he nice?"   
  
"Oh, yeah. The nicest person in the world. Ooh, [blue salvia](http://www.driedflowersdirect.com/Images/photo/blue-salvia.jpg), awesome!" Nasir responded as he picked up his first choice of flowers and kept it in his hand as he walked along the alleys of the fridge to check out more choices.   
  
"Al-alright." Agron said, raising an eyebrow that Nasir had just picked something without asking his advice about it. Still, wanting more answers about Castus and just how Nasir felt about him, he asked: "Is he cute?"  
  
Nasir sighed dreamily as he picked up some arborvitae and joined it to the salvia already in his hand: "He's the most sexiest man I've ever met. He'd be in People's Magazine's list every year if I had any say about it. It's just...his smile and god...his eyes...they're unbelievable."   
  
Geez, the way Nasir was acting and talking about Castus was really hurting more than Agron expected it to be. But he still tried one more question:  
  
"Do you like him?"  
  
Nasir blushed at that question and replied a bit more shyly than before: "I...I don't just like him, I think I've fallen in love with him. Ooh! Some [arbor vitae](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3373/3552367029_2dd5c41126.jpg), nice!"  
  
Agron looked at Nasir's back as the other man picked up more flowers into his hands and asked him after a silent moment: "You know, you seem to be doing fine on your own, why exactly did you need my help?"   
  
Thinking for a moment, Nasir responded: "You know, I don't know exactly. Just give me five more minutes and I'll have everything I need. You can go ahead and go back to your sweeping."  
  
Frowning, Agron said: "Alright, just don't get lost in there, okay?"   
  
To which Nasir replied without even glancing at him: "Don't worry, I won't!" and with that, Agron went back to the front of the store, shuffling his feet as he walked along, somehow feeling even more miserable than before Nasir had come in.   
  
As he approached the cash register area to once again pick up his broom, Agron noticed a white unsealed envelope on the floor. That's funny, he thought to himself, why didn't I noticed it until now? A bit curious, Agron picked it up and found himself stunned when he read the front of it: in elegant, cursive letters, were written the words: _"To Agron"_ and from having seen his signature and other words written by him many times in the past few months, Agron instantly knew who wrote those seven letters.   
  
_Nasir_. Nasir had written him whatever was inside this envelope and as he opened it and took out a folded piece of paper, Agron found himself face to face with the most wonderful words anyone had ever addressed to him:  
  
 _"If I could have the courage to tell you how I feel, I would have done it the second our eyes met that day when I stepped into you shop. But just like you, I'm a bit uneasy with voicing my thoughts and my feelings out loud and since I don't have the ability to do it with flowers and plants like you can, I hope that these written words will be enough to make you understand._  
  
 _For you to understand just how much I really need you in my life, Agron. There's no one else in this world that even comes close to making me feel the way you make me feel. How my heart doubles up in speed whenever you're close to me, how much I want to get lost in your eyes so full of life when you speak about what you love the most. How I wish that one day you'll speak with as much passion about me than about what you love. Because I love you, Agron, I love you so much that even if I said it out loud, it wouldn't even cover how much I truly do love you._

 _I know everything, Duro told me. How could you even think that you're just a schmuck? Have you even looked at yourself? You're the most wonderful, most handsome human being I have ever had the chance to meet. You're my spark, you're my star, you're my best friend, but I want to be so much more than that. I want to hear your sweet laugh because I said a funny joke, I want to fall asleep in your arms so I don't feel so alone in this world. I want to kiss you, touch you, make love to you, I want it all. And I do hope that with this gift, you'll want these things too._  
  
 _So, please, Agron, my sweet, generous, gorgeous Agron and hopefully, my beautiful future love, please turn around and look at me._  
  
 _\--Nasir."_  
  
Sniffling and feeling tears stinging the corner of his eyes, Agron did as the piece of paper told him to do and he turned his head around. And before him stood a smiling Nasir, holding his completed bouquet in his hands and as he took a couple of steps, Agron couldn't help but ask him:  
  
"But what about Castus? Didn't he..."  
  
"Say that he was in love with me? Yeah, but I told him that I just liked him as a friend and nothing more." Nasir responded, taking a couple of more steps.   
  
"And why didn't you..." Agron asked again, but Nasir stopped him once more and replied:  
    
"Why didn't I say anything to you about him? Because I thought he wasn't worth the trouble and I didn't want you to feel jealous over him."   
  
"But he's so classy and rich and I'm just..." Agron argumented, not understanding why Nasir would pick a regular-joe like him and not go with somebody as suave and wealthy as Castus seemed to be.  
  
Nasir's smile only widened when he answered: "You're just perfect. I don't need a yacht or money to be happy, I just need you, Agron." But his face turned into a frown when he looked at Agron and added: "But please, Agron, tell me I'm not making a complete idiot of myself right now. Tell me that what Duro told me on the phone was true and that you-hmph!"

Nasir never finished his sentence because Agron quickly walked the remaining steps separating the two, brought the smaller man into his arms, kissed him with every ounce of love that he was feeling for the other man and when he felt Nasir respond to his kiss with as much ardor, that's when his doubts over the other man's true feelings finally vanished. Breaking apart to breathe after what seemed like an eternity, Agron whispered into the other man's ear as he held him tightly in his arms:   
  
"I do love you, Nasir. I love you so much and I want everything you wrote in that letter too. And you're the perfect one, not me."   
  
Retreating his head back and rubbing Agron's bottom lip with a finger, Nasir replied with a smile: "Well, I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on that one."  
  
Tightening his arms around the smaller man, Agron looked at the bouquet that Nasir was holding in his left hand and asked him: "And what about those? Are these flowers really for me?"  
  
Holding the flowers back up in front of him, Nasir smiled and proudly explained while pointing at the different plants: "Now see, these [Sweet Alyssums](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Sweet_alyssum.jpg) mean that you mean more to me than just your beauty, which I do think you're quite handsome, by the way. And this [Blue Violet](http://farm1.static.flickr.com/31/60123005_b24505a84e.jpg) right here means that I'll always be faithful to you, no matter what. The [Coreopsis Arkansas](http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3628/3678405238_dd0de1b3da_o.jpg) over there means that I fell for you from the very first moment I met you, the arborvitae that I picked up earlier means that I hope our friendship is going to last no matter what happens between us and the blue salvia means that I think about you all the time, you haunt my days and my nights in the nicest of ways."  
  
Agron looked at him, impressed that Nasir knew all of this. "Wow, you really remembered everything I've taught you, huh?" he said with a smirk on his face.  
  
This made Nasir's smile grow even wider and blushing, he responded: "Well, I did learn from the best, didn't I?" As he continued his flowers descriptions, Nasir's eyes caught the piece-de-resistance, the large red flower that stood in the middle of everything that Nasir had picked up while in the fridge not ten minutes earlier.   
  
"And that [red rose](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Qc6aMdLT994/SN6dydFmNoI/AAAAAAAADEA/OaX9mf-WRaM/s400/A+Single+Red+Rose.jpg) right there..." he stopped mid-sentence, seemingly struggling to find the rest of his words.  
  
Smiling, Agron encouraged him by saying: "Go on, what does it mean?"  
  
Nasir looked back up at the other man and replied: "It means that I'm in love with you Agron and I'm sorry that it took me this long to admit it."  
  
"And I'm just like you, I'm sorry that it took another guy sweeping in for me to get just how deep it my feelings really were." Agron said, once again grinning.   
  
"I guess we're both idiots then." Nasir said as he giggled out loud.  
  
Agron responded with a laugh of his own and leaning in once more, he whispered: "But at least we'll be idiots together." And as they kissed once more, the bouquet of flowers that Nasir had been holding in his hand was deposited on the main counter, forgotten for a moment, but still the holder of the promises made between the newly-formed couple.   
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning found here:
> 
> http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/language.html
> 
> http://www.almanac.com/content/meaning-flowers
> 
> http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/publications/flowers/flowers.html


	6. Pink carnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Agron and Nasir's first date or: "The one where everything was going right until it went wrong."

**It was with a pink carnation that they had their first date.**  
  
You'd think with how Agron and Nasir finally became a couple and proclaimed their love for one another, that their first date would just be a walk in the park and nobody would be nervous about it, right?  
  
Well...  
  
 _"Okay...okay, let's see: nice shirt on: check, hair done just right: check, bottle of wine: check, flower: check. Well, looks like everything's in order."_   Agron thought to himself as he checked himself one last time in the mirror of the elevator leading up to Nasir's apartment, the site of what would be their first official date. Even though Agron and Nasir had officially been going out for almost a week now, they just hadn't found the time to set up a night for just the two of them yet. But, with the flowershop being closed for the night and Nasir being finished with work for the weekend, they had agreed to have a romantic dinner together at Nasir's place, to which Agron was going up to right about now.   
  
As he approached the door with the number "24" on it, Nasir's apartment number, Agron stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. _This shouldn't be so nerve-wracking_ , he thought to himself. This was just Nasir, one of his best friends, now his boyfriend and this was just the other man's apartment, which he had been to dozens of times before. But why did he felt so strangely on edge?   
  
As he thought about it for a second, he came to the conclusion that he was nervous about how the night would go, beyond dinner. Talking and dinner he could handle easily, it was the "after" part that he was a bit aprehensive of. He and Nasir hadn't yet slept together and while the taller man did have his fair share of experiences in that particular area in the past, he wondered if he'd meet Nasir's expectations. Would Nasir find him boring? Be disappointed? Wouldn't want to see him again afterwards?   
  
Agron shook his head and began to walk again toward his destination. Now was not the time to drown himself in questions and doubts, he concluded that whatever happened tonight would happen and he would deal with it when the time came and not a second beforehand.   
  
As he knocked on the wooden door of Nasir's apartment, he was greeted by his smiling boyfriend who invited him in with a nod of the head and a soft kiss on the lips.  
  
"I brought some red wine to go with dinner, I hope you don't mind." Agron said as he took off his leather jacket and dropped it on one of the chair near the kitchen table.   
  
Smiling what seemed like a nervous smile, Nasir replied while approaching the taller man: "Oh no! No, I don't mind, not at all. In fact, it's actually going to pretty well with what I prepared for tonight."   
  
Taking his place at the table, Agron rubbed his hands together excitedly and asked him: "Ooh! What are we having? I don't know about you, but I'm just starving."   
  
This made Nasir seem more confident and as he took out some plates and glasses out of his kitchen's cupboards, he explained what they would be eating tonight:  
  
"Well, we're going to start with some home-made Cesar Salad, followed by one of my specialties, some nice Duck a l'Orange and after that, for dessert, some sweet bread pudding."   
  
"Wow, I didn't know you knew how to cook that much stuff!" commented Agron as Nasir poured some wine into his glass and put some green leafs into his plate.   
  
"Heh, nothing is that hard to make, thanks to the power of the World Wide Web." simply replied Nasir as he sat down opposite his boyfriend and raised his glass filled with wine. "To you and me." he toasted with a smile.   
  
Agron smiled back and clinking their glasses together, he replied softly: "To you and me."  
  
 ********************  
  
The night had been going great: the food was delicious, the wine was flowing and the conversation between the two men was light and easy. They often stole glances at one another all throughout dinner, both looking away when they were caught and blushing like virginal young ladies that had just met the man of their dreams.   
  
After the dessert had been eaten, Agron took a sip of his newly-refilled glass of wine and exclaimed after a beat: "Oh! I almost forgot something."   
  
Turning around from his position near the fridge where he had just put the uneaten pieces of apple crust, Nasir approached the taller man who had stood up from his seat and asked him with curious eyes: "Oh yeah and what's that?"  
  
Agron simply smiled and out of his suit-jacket, he pulled out a [pink carnation](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/34600000/Pink-Carnation-pink-color-34691907-512-672.jpg), gave it to Nasir and replied: "There we go, a beauty for a beauty."  
  
Nasir brought the flower to his nose and smelled its sweet perfume. Looking back up at Agron, he inquired with a soft voice: "And what does this one mean?"  
  
Taking the smaller man into his arms, Agron replied: "It means that no matter what happens between us, I'll never, ever forget you, because you're one of a kind, Nasir and I do hope you know that."  
  
"Um, well, thank you. I do think you're one of a kind too, you know." Nasir said, reaching over and caressing Agron's face with a soft hand.

  
Feeling the electric atmosphere between the two of them, Agron took a couple of steps back and asked the smaller man: "Say, I don't know about you, but I'd really like to put some music on to liven up the place, what do you say?"  
  
Tightening his hold onto the flower in his hands, Nasir stammered out loud: "Um, sure! You can use the stereo, my MP3 playlist is set, you can pick up whatever you like."  
  
Smiling at his boyfriend, Agron approached the machine and turned it on. After fiddling with a couple of buttons and searching for a good song to set the mood, his choice settled on a [nice, rhythmic slow song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dls6lgpBDyY).   
  
Feeling enthralled by the slow beat of the music, Agron couldn't help himself and started to sway his hips back and forth, following the rhythm of the song. He could feel Nasir's dark eyes looking at him with smoldering desire and this only enticed him to sway a bit more provocatively, knowing it'd give a rise-up from the other man, in every sense of the word. After a minute or so, he turned his head toward Nasir and asked him innocently: "Care to dance with me?"   
  
At Agron's extended hand, Nasir seemed to be a taken a bit back and stammered out once again: "Um, I'm sorry, but I'm not really that good of a dancer."  
  
"Oh come on, it's not that complicated. Here, I'll show you." And with that, Agron grabbed Nasir's hand and putting his other hand on the smaller man's hip, he instructed him to "just let your body follow the beat and after that, everything's going to come naturally."  
  
After a few awkward and out-of-rhythm steps, Nasir closed his eyes and finally seemed to get what Agron had been telling him as he finally let himself loose and brought his body closer to Agron's and together, they danced through the remaining time of the song, smiling and laughing together at their own and the other's most outrageous dance moves.   
  
As a [slower song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUY7KYeWGzc) began to play, Agron smiled as Nasir who, with his carnation still in his hands, wrapped his arms around his taller boyfriend's neck while the other man wrapped his own arms around the smaller man's waist, brought their foreheads together and they both closed their eyes, lost in the romance of the music and of the entire night.  
  
After a moment, Nasir broke the silence and in a timid voice, said: "Agron?"  
  
"Hmm?" replied a perfectly content Agron.  
  
Opening his eyes and leaning his head back, Nasir looked at the other man nervously and said: "It's just...it's just that I was very nervous about tonight. I didn't know if you'd like the food or anything else and I wanted tonight to be perfect for you and I hope it was because you deserve every single night to be perfect and um..."  
  
Nasir's rambling was cut-off by Agron's finger on his lips and a soft smile. "It's okay, 'cause I was nervous too. And I did like everything that you did, I really did. You deserve every single night to be perfect too, you know." he whispered as he was about to take his finger off Nasir's lips but was surprised when the smaller man stopped him with his hand and instead brought the long digit once again near his lips, kissing it with almost reverence and finally brought it into his mouth, licking it and biting it slowly, making Agron's usually light green eyes turn a shade darker.  
  
As Nasir took the finger out his mouth after one last soft kiss against Agron's palm, he whispered with lust in his voice: "And you know what would make tonight even more perfect than it already is?"   
  
Agron grinned and as he leaned his head in, he whispered back: "No, what?"  
  
Nasir answered as he closed his eyes and leaned his own head in: "If you'd take me to bed, and..."  
  
But he never had the chance to finish his sentence because out of nowhere, came a shrilling:  
  
 _BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!_  
  
Both men startled at the sound and out of their romantic mood and Nasir, looking like he realized what the ringing bell truly was, groaned out loud as he put his head into his hands:  
  
"Stupid fire alarm!"  
  
And as they found themselves shivering outside of the apartment building not ten minutes later, thanks to a lady upstairs who had plugged her electric teapot while also lighting up her stove at the same time (how she did accomplish to do that, quite frankly, Agron didn't want to know), in the twirling red light of the fireman truck parked right next to where they were standing, both Agron and Nasir exchanged a look that seemed to say:  
  
 _"Looks like the rest of this perfect night will be for another time after all."_  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning: http://www.ehow.com/info_8241152_meaning-one-single-pink-carnation.html


	7. Rosemary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> or "The one where everything was going wrong until they went right".

**It was with some Rosemary that they first made love.**  
  
While working at the flower shop was Agron's mean of getting by and pay the bills, it was at the greenhouse that he really felt in his element. It was situated on a huge courtyard, just behind the house that Nasir, his brother Duro and Spartacus had been living in ever since they had opened the store and while he did enjoy playing the salesman and see the smile on the faces of the different customers passing by every day, it was when he was working in the big glass and wooden-mounted structure that Agron felt the most happy.

This was where he could express himself, experiment with different plants and flowers at his leisure and really take care of everything he had worked so hard for: his still-growing green babies that he would either sell still in their pots or, when they reached a certain amount of maturity, cut and sold in bouquets for different occasions for different people. This was where, about three days after his and Nasir's first date had ended up going awry thanks to a mistimed fire alarm, that the latter found the former, deep in thoughts and deep inside his work.  
  
Agron was wearing his usual greenhouse-working attire: some old, worn-out blue jeans overalls that covered an also raggedy black T-Shirt underneath. He was wearing glasses over his eyes to better see what he was doing, spectacles that he didn't dare to wear in public even though Nasir insisted it made him a thousand times more sexier than when he wasn't wearing them. He was tired, he was sweaty from working hard all day but that didn't stop him from greeting an also tired-looking Nasir with a warm smile and a kiss on the forehead.  
  
"Hard day?" Agron asked the smaller man, who'd looked like he'd just gotten out of the office, still wearing his white dress-shirt and his undone black-tie.  
  
His boyfriend smiled at him and sat between his legs on the floor of the greenhouse, cuddling against his broad chest and closing his eyes. Sighing, Nasir answered: "Yeah, our project's coming down the wire for its release date, so it's deadline after deadline after deadline and I just can't wait 'til it's out so I can actually get some sleep."  
  
Wrapping his arms tightly around Nasir from behind and giving him a kiss on the side of the head, Agron said: "Well, I for one can't wait to see it."  
  
This made Nasir laugh and correct him by saying: "You can't wait to play it, you mean?"  
  
"Well, yeah, but what can you do?" added Agron, tightening his arms around his love and closing his eyes contently. After a moment of comfortable silence between the two, Nasir disentangled himself from Agron's embrace and said: "Actually, I'm here for a reason."  
  
Looking up at Nasir with a smile as the smaller man stood up, Agron asked him: "And what would that be?"  
  
"Well, I actually wanted to see if you wanted to get some dinner with me and Chadara tonight back at her place. Just the three of us, chatting and gossiping like a bunch of old hags, what do you say?" Nasir replied, to which Agron nodded enthusiastically and said:  
  
"Of course, I'll be there! You know me, wouldn't want to miss a chance to be an old hag for the whole world."  
  
Nasir grinned at his boyfriend's response and seemingly realizing something, he added: "Oh yeah, before I forget again, Chadara wanted to know if you had any fine herbs around here that she could use. She's trying this new recipe with chicken for tonight and since you seem to have an unlimited amount of green plants on hand, she asked me to come to the source and ask you for some."  
  
"Um, sure! Just look around and suit yourself." agreed Agron, turning his back and his attention toward the plant that he had been taken care of just before Nasir had interrupted him.  
  
After a couple of silent minutes, Agron heard a shouted "Ahah! [Rosemary](http://static.ifood.tv/files/images/How_to_Store_Rosemary.gif), perfect!" and this made the taller man raise a suspicious eyebrow. The both of them knew that this particular herb was a pretty good aphrodisiac and unless Chadara wanted to get either he or Nasir to bed (which he had no doubts wasn't really her intentions), he had a suspicion that his boyfriend wanted to use it to get him in the sack (which he wasn't reticent to, on the opposite). He was about to ask Nasir about it when he heard the sound of approaching steps and the feeling of a hand on his shoulder.

Smiling, Agron turned his torso around and was about to say something when he found himself with a handful of dark, humid planting soil right in his mouth and all over his face. Coughing out the dirt that had found itself in his mouth and wiping at his eyes, he glared at a guilty-looking but giggling Nasir, holding his newly-found Rosemary plant in one hand and another handful of dirt in his other.  
  
"Nasir! That's my special potting soil! Do you know how much that's worth?!" growled Agron, standing up and putting his hands on his hips.  
  
His smile faltering when he realized that Agron hadn't found his prank all that funny, Nasir put his hand up and began to stammer out an apology: "Oh god, Agron, I'm so sorry! I'll reimburse you, I promise! I didn't know that that soil was so special, if I did I would have never-" he was interrupted mid-sentence by an arriving pile of dirt thrown by a smirking Agron, who was wiping his hands together looking rather proud of himself,  that landed right onto Nasir's face.  
  
His eyes narrowing, Nasir deposited his plant on the ground near him and grabbing another handful of soil, he yelled out: "Now, you know, this means war, right?"  
  
To which Agron, like a little child, grabbed a handful of dirt of his own and approaching his boyfriend with a predatory grin, he replied: "Oh, I know it is, believe me."  
  
And so began a war of dirt-throwing all around the greenhouse, featuring two grown men acting like toddlers, giggling as they ran around trying to catch the other and dirtying up the other's clothes with handfuls after handfuls of planting soil. And soon, after Agron had caught up with a running Nasir and pushed him on the ground of the greenhouse between two rows of growing flowers, the dirt-war turned into a wrestling/tickling fight, the two men rolling around and around trying to best the other, and it finished with an worn-out Agron pinning an exhausted and giggling Nasir to the ground, with the smaller man under him tapping out playfully.  
  
They were both covered in dirt, with black marks all over their clothes and their bodies, but at that moment the both of them didn't care. With a spark in his eyes, Agron asked the huffing man under him: "So, what time is it? Are we getting late for dinner?"  
  
Nasir replied with a smile: "Oh, no, I don't think so. It's precisely," he checked his watch on his right arm: "4:00 PM, so we should be good to go."  
  
Nasir's answer made Agron freeze in place and sit up. "What-what time did you say it was?" he stammered out, with a look of panic in his eyes.  
  
Nasir frowned at his boyfriend, sat back up himself and replied: "4 PM. Why? What's going on?"  
  
Pulling at Nasir's arm, Agron said in a rushed tone: "We gotta get out of here, Nasir and quick!"  
  
Turning his head around to see what was the cause of Agron's sudden state of panic, Nasir asked one more time: "But why? What's so pressing?"  
  
Realizing that they were too late and closing his eyes tightly so that he wouldn't see Nasir's reaction to what was about to come, Agron replied through gritted teeth: "Because every day at 4PM precisely, the sprinklers of the greenhouse automatically go off..."  
  
"The what of the wh-"  
  
Nasir's interrogation was interrupted by the sudden cold water that began to drench his whole body, from the top of his head down to his black work pants, the same water that was now drenching Agron too, making the both of them completely wet and dripping with droplets of sprinklers water.  
  
Opening his eyes once more and dreading Nasir's reaction to the sudden shower that he'd been receiving for the past couple of seconds, Agron was shocked to find himself face-to-face not with an angry-looking Nasir, but with a with a soft smiling one.

His hair was undone and was clinging to his shoulders, his work clothes were now completely drenched and exposed what Agron had always suspected was underneath them: a nicely-built, muscled body and looking back up to stare into Nasir's eyes once more, he found himself extremely turned on by the whole situation and by the man before him and so, he couldn't help himself and brought the smaller man into his arms and whispered against his lips: "Dinner with Chadara can wait, right?"  
  
To which Nasir heatedly replied while unzipping Agron's overalls: "Oh yeah, definitely can wait." And they lowered themselves down on the floor and began to kiss and tug at each other's clothes and right there, while the plants all around them were getting much-needed nourishment thanks to the falling water, Agron and Nasir made love on the floor of the greenhouse.  
  
Afterwards, the sprinklers having ended their daily work of watering the different plants of the greenhouse, both men laid there naked, dirty and wet, but also happy and satiated, snuggling up in each other's arms, with Nasir holding the Rosemary in his hand once more and Agron whispered against the smaller man's hot skin: "So, still need that aphrodisiac?"  
  
This made Nasir turn around into his boyfriend's arms and pecking his lips lightly, he whispered back: "Oh no, definitely not."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plant meaning: http://aphrodisiaclist.blogspot.ca/2013/03/rosemary-aphrodisiac.html


	8. Daffodil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Agron's night doesn't go quite as expected.

**It was with a daffodil that they almost moved in together.**  
  
That night had started so well.  
  
Agron had an extra spring in his steps when he arrived home that evening, arms full of groceries in preparation for the wonderful dinner that he'd intended to make for him and his boyfriend. For he had a special reason to celebrate:  
  
He would ask his boyfriend of over seven months now to move in with him during dinner.  
  
He could already imagine it now: the surprised look on Nasir's face, followed by a beaming smile and a loving kiss. Maybe even followed by some celebratory sex, if things went his way.  
  
Agron grinned as he began making his meal. Yeah, tonight would be a great night.  
  
 ******************  
  
It **was** supposed to be a great night.  
  
When it had been time for dessert, after some lovely spiced pork chops that Agron had made from scratch (and that had received high praises from an appreciative Nasir), instead of going to his fridge and bringing out the scheduled tub of ice-cream, Agron had approached his boyfriend, kissed him on the side of the head and told him to close his eyes because he something special for him, which Nasir did without hesitation and with a devilish smirk, probably awaiting some sexy surprise from his very imaginative boyfriend.  
  
After a minute or two, Agron whispered to Nasir to open his eyes and presented him with: [a yellow daffodil](http://atmywindow.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/Classic-Yellow-Daffodil1.png).  
  
Raising curious eyebrows at his boyfriend, Nasir asked him with a frown: "Um, maybe my mind was somewhere else entirely, but is that your surprise?"  
  
To which Agron proudly smiled and replied: "Yeah! Do you like it?"  
  
A bit hesitant, but still taking the flower into his hands, Nasir said: "Oh yeah, I love it! Don't get me wrong, I love it when you give me flowers and everything, but why a daffodil exactly?"  
  
His smile turning from prideful to tender, Agron approached the chair that Nasir was sitting on and took both of his boyfriend's hands in his. He whispered lovingly: "Because it means new beginnings and I want a new beginning with you. I want you to move in with me."  
  
"...what?" stammered Nasir, a shocked look on his face.

  
Agron's tender smile slowly dropped from his face. "I said, I want you to move in with me." he said again, a bit shocked at Nasir's seemingly surprised, but not in a good way, reaction.  
  
Nasir took his hands out Agron's grip and quickly stood up from his seat. He stammered out once more: "I heard what you said, but-but...you want me to move in with you?"  
  
Waving his hands around like it was the most obvious thing in the world, Agron replied: "Yeah! I want you to move in with me! Isn't it great?"  
  
And then Nasir asked him the question that shattered everything.  
  
"Why?"  
  
"...what do you mean, why?" asked a now frowning Agron, not understanding why Nasir wasn't jumping up and down in joy at the idea. They were a couple, they were in love, so why not take the next step and live together? What was so wrong about that?  
  
"It's just that...isn't what we have right now enough, Agron? Aren't you moving a little bit fast here?" asked Nasir, crossing his arms across his chest and avoiding his boyfriend's eyes, as if he didn't want to see Agron's reaction.  
  
But Agron's reaction he did see, or in fact hear: "What do you mean, moving a little bit fast?! We've been going out for seven months! Why **shouldn't** we be thinking about moving in together at this stage?"  
  
"Well, maybe you're thinking about it, but I'm not!" shouted Nasir, running an exasperated hand through his long, dark hair.  
  
This made Agron freeze and his anger suddenly turned into sadness. "You-you don't want to move in with me?" he asked his boyfriend, suddenly feeling like this night wasn't going to end the way he'd thought it would be after all.  
  
"No, I didn't say that, Agron! I-I just..." replied a despaired-looking Nasir, looking like he didn't know what to do to defuse the explosive situation between the two of them at that moment.  
  
"Just what? Let's say you don't want to move in with me right now, when is it going to be the right time? In six months? In a year? In ten years? And what if I want to get married someday? Are you going to make me wait twenty years between my proposal and you saying yes!?" Agron lashed out, letting all of his frustrations at Nasir's seemingly lack of commitment to him out of the open.  
  
"I-I don't know Agron! I'm sorry, okay? I'm not like you, I'm not making plans for the next twenty years of my life like you are. I don't know what's going to happen next week, even less what's going to happen next year!" responded Nasir, tightening his arms around himself.  
  
"But do you even see us being together next year?" asked a now exasperated Agron, to which Nasir raised his eyes at him and answered in a hopeless voice:  
  
"Well, with the way you're suffocating me right now with all of your questions and all of your crap, I don't even know if we're going to be together by the end of the night!"  
  
"Well, with the way you keep avoiding my supposed crap, I don't see us going far in the commitment area either!" yelled back Agron, the conversation getting even more heated than before.  
  
"Yeah, well maybe the reason I'm avoiding them is that I'm not so sure I want to be committed to you right now!" shouted Nasir and looking at him with angry eyes.  
  
"Well maybe I don't want to be committed to you either if you're going to act like that!" growled Agron and narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend (ex?).  
  
"Well then maybe we should just stop being committed to each other all together!" replied Nasir, taking large angry strides to the front door of Agron's house and opening it.  
  
"Well fine! Maybe we should! Maybe you should've just picked Castus and go with him on his yacht, if I have so much crap like you said I have!" shouted Agron from his position near the kitchen table.  
  
Turning his head one last time before exiting the house, Nasir replied with a defeated and sad voice: "You know what, maybe you're right and I should have just picked him instead of you, if I've had known how this would've turned out." and with that, Nasir crossed the threshold of the front door and closed it with a loud bang, leaving a completely shattered Agron looking down at the kitchen table, where Nasir had left his daffodil and had broken Agron's heart while doing it.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning: http://www.teleflora.com/about-flowers/daffodil.asp


	9. Nasir's concotion part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, it's the thought that counts.

**It was with another one of Nasir's concoction that they got back together.**  
  
It was Valentine's Day once again and business at the Flowery Palace was flourishing at an all time-high, to say the least. People coming in and out of the store all day, all of the personnel were on hand just like the year before to serve its clientele and the dough just kept on coming, coming and coming. Well, all of them except for one, the shop's owner, Agron.  
  
If the year before, he had been cranky on this day of love and hope, then this year he was miserable, just absolutely miserable.  He would have probably been there along with his fellow employees, celebrating the feeling of love alongside them, if he could in fact still feel something and wasn't just an empty shell made of flesh and bones, like he had been over the past five months. Ever since Nasir had walked out of his life, Agron felt nothing, absolutely nothing. And when he came close to feeling anything, he drowned his emotions in either alcohol, work or just tried not to think about it.  
  
Tried to not think how he screwed up the best thing that had ever happened to him. About how he wished that he could go back to that night five months earlier and do something, say something different so that Nasir would stay with him. He shouldn't have pushed so much, should have given Nasir room to breathe, but when he'd realized that, it had been far too late to do anything about it. He tried to forget his poor frozen and broken heart that had shattered in thousands little pieces when he had heard Nasir bang the front door of his house that night and had remained still in his chest ever since, but still drowning him with sadness, regrets and sorrow every time he tried to take a breath.  
  
All of this affected him. He didn't eat as much, smiled as much, didn't seem to enjoy his life as much. He had lost weight, he had shadows on his face and in his eyes and while he perfected his act of the joyful salesman, the extra boost in his greetings to his clientele was long gone, replaced by a forced smile and memorized words.  
  
And today was the worst day of them all. It was the one-year anniversary of when Nasir had come into his store just before closing time and with the help of a bouquet of his own making and an envelope on the floor, his best friend had become his love. Agron felt like his life really began when Nasir's soft lips first touched his own and ended when the other man walked out of the door. Sure, he still had his friends, his family and his work, but his break-up had left a huge, gaping hole inside of him that he was sure nothing else could ever fill, no matter how much he tried.

And the worst part of it all, was that despite time passing by, what had happened that night and the words that had been exchanged between them, Agron still loved Nasir just as much as the first time they met, maybe even more so now. He had thought from time to time to call the other man, to go see him at his work or his apartment, but what good would it do? What could he say, what could he do to make it all better after everything that had happened? He knew for sure that Nasir didn't want anything to do with him anyway, so what was the use?  
  
And so, in an effort to try and avoid all of the happy Valentine's Day couples and their lovey-dovey selves that would surely show up at the shop all throughout the day, Agron had called in an extra favor and had made it so that he could stay at home and not work. He couldn't face other people constantly shoving love in his face, knowing what he'd lost and what he could've done to save it.  
  
He had spent the whole day laying on his couch, watching TV when something good was on, but mostly staring at nothing in particular on the wall in front of him, trying to get the tears that were threatening to come out of his eyes to go back down, but having some difficulty in doing so. He sniffled out loud and wiped at the corner of his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Damn him, damn his stupid emotions and damn this stupid, crappy day!  
  
His black hole of thoughts was interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone. Picking up the call when he saw that it was Duro, Agron answered with a sigh:  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Hey big bro! How 'you doing?" said a sympathetic-sounding Duro, making Agron smile a bit despite himself.   
  
"Oh, you know, like hell, as usual." answered Agron.  
  
"Well, I've got some good news for you! The store's just closed for the night and with my calculations, we did record business today!" exclaimed Duro, and this made Agron's smile grow a bit wider.   
  
"Oh, well that's good! That's good." replied Agron, this put a little bit of sunshine in the still stormy mess that was his heart and mind.  
  
"Listen, I know you're not in the mood to celebrate and all, but me and the guys want to go out to this bar downtown and we wanted to see if you'd like to come with us." Duro asked his big brother and this made Agron sit straight up on the couch.   
  
_Yeah_ , he thought to himself. _Yeah, I could go to some bar, spend some time with the guys away from all of this romantic crap and drink 'til I can't feel anything anymore, that sounded like a good plan._   
  
"Alright, count me in!" answered Agron, now in a more jovial mood than before.   
  
"Awesome! Come and meet me in front of the flower shop in about an hour and don't be late! I don't want to fall asleep because I waited for you all night, alright?" Duro said, to which Agron laughed a bit and replied before hanging up his phone:  
  
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be there on time, don't you worry about it."  
  
As he hung up his own phone, Duro took a glance through the window of the flower shop at the immobile figure leaning against the nearby wall. With a half-smile, he whispered to himself:  
  
"I wasn't joking." and with that, he left the front of the flower shop, feeling like he had done his part and now it was time for those two idiots to do theirs.    
  
*****************  
  
After a quick shower and putting some clean clothes on, Agron smiled while walking down the street despite the miserable state of mind that he had harboring all throughout the day. _Time to get drunk and forget about this crappy day and what better to do it than with a couple of friends and family?_ , he thought to himself. As he approached the front of the flower shop, he didn't see anyone looking like his younger brother waiting for him. When he finally found himself at the spot that Duro had asked him to go to so that they could go to the bar together, Agron looked around, from the sidewalk to far down the street: no one even remotely looking like Duro was around the flower shop, let alone around the street, Agron was all alone.   
  
Agron frowned. Was this some kind of joke? Had Duro made up a story just to get Agron out of his home? Looking around one more time, his eyes fell on the glass of the portico of the flower shop. Between the two main doors of the store, seemed to be a lonely figure leaning against the wooden wall of the place. Grinning to himself, Agron went to open the outside door of the store. _Silly Duro, must have gone inside so he didn't get cold while waiting for me. Must be busy checking his messages on his cell or something._   
  
As he opened the door and stepped inside the portico, Agron was stunned when he didn't find himself face-to-face with a busy-looking Duro, but rather with a sleeping Nasir.  
  
 _What in the? What the hell was he doing here?!_   Shouldn't he be somewhere else celebrating Valentine's Day with his significant other, whomever that might be and not being asleep against the wooden wall of the portico of his flower shop holding a...a...  
  
Every apprehension that Agron was holding against Nasir's sudden reappearance vanished when he saw what his ex-boyfriend was holding in his hands while he slept. It was a bouquet of flowers, not from his store by the looks of the brand name appearing on its wrapping paper and they looked to be a bit smooshed from being held on so tightly.   
  
And as Agron knelt near the sleeping figure to take a closer look at what the bouquet contained, he felt his heart thaw and a loving smile, the first one in almost five months, appeared on his face. In that moment, he fell in love with the smaller man all over again. Because he understood now what Nasir was doing here, just by looking at the flowers he was holding on to.    
  
They were all flowers of apologies, of asking for forgiveness. [White and pink tulips](http://www.bouquetweddingflower.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/pink-white-tulips.jpg?4d8955), [white orchids](http://www.fabiovisentin.com//photography/photo/22/white-orchid-03855.jpg), [blue hyacinths](http://www.mikesjournal.com/April%202007/Blue%20Hyacinth.jpg), some [Liatris](http://www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/potd/liatris_ligulistylis.jpg) in the mix, but it was the one that stood in the middle of them all that struck something inside his heart and made him tear up:  
  
A [yellow daffodil](http://aknitterinqueens.typepad.com/photos/garden_pictures/yellow_daffodil.jpg), just like the one that he had bought Nasir the night that they broke up, was standing there among the other flowers. A symbol of new beginnings... did Nasir want a new beginning with him?   
  
_Only one way to find out_ , Agron thought to himself as he reached forward and with the force of a slight breeze, he pressed his lips against the sleeping man's forehead and lovingly whispered against it:  
  
"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty."  
  
This made Nasir blink his eyes open and yawn. When his eyes focused on what was in front of him, his face turned into a frown and he retreated his back further against the wall and away from the crouching man in front of him.  
  
"A-Agron? What are you doing here?" said Nasir, looking at bit fearful at Agron's reaction to his presence inside his flower shop.   
  
The other man smiled at him and replied: "I was just about to ask you the same thing."  
  
Nasir quickly began to stammer out an explanation: "Well see, I came here to see you since I knew you're supposed to work on Valentine's Day because it's such a big day for the store, but when I came you weren't there and Duro told me you were gone for the day, but I thought you might drop by or something and I waited for you here all night but you didn't show up and I guess I fell asleep." Raising himself up, looking at the shriveled flowers in his hands and at Agron once more, Nasir sighed and added: "But I understand if you don't want to see me, even less listen to what I have to say, so I'll just be on my way and leave you alone. Goodnight."    
  
Nasir made a move to walk past Agron and out of the portico but was quickly stopped when Agron grabbed his wrist to hold him in the spot where he had been standing. Tenderly, the taller man looked at the man before him and with a small smile, he said: "Well, you wanted to see me and I'm here now. What did you want to tell me?"   
  
The tender look in Agron's eyes seemed to break down Nasir's walls. Tightening his hold around the flowers in his hands, he looked at Agron with big, imploring eyes and said: "I-I know I don't have the right to tell you this, because I was the one who walked out on you, but I...I miss you Agron, I miss you so much. There hasn't been a second in the past five months that I haven't thought about how much I missed you and how much I screwed up. Because I know it was me that screwed everything up between us. I shouldn't freaked out when you asked me to move in with you, I should have thought about it more before throwing out the best thing that had ever happened to me out of the window. But I was scared, I was just so scared of the future, I've always been like that. And look where that got me...  
  
And those words I said when I left... I'm just sorry, I'm so sorry. I wish I could go back in time and fix everything, but I know I can't, so all I have left is these flowers and me telling you this: I love you, Agron. I love you so much. I want everything with you: I want to live together with you, I want to marry you and hell, I even want to have a child with you! I want it all and if you could ever find it in your heart to forgive me, I promise that I won't run away anymore and I'll always want to be here, with you, no matter what."  
  
Agron stood there for a second or two, unmoving and staring right into Nasir's eyes, assessing everything the other man had just told him.   
  
Then, with a gasp and sudden tears coming to his eyes, Agron approached the smaller man and whispered: "That was what I've been wanting to tell you for the past five months." and with that, the reunited lovers fell into each other's arms once more,  kissing and whispering words of apologies and love to one another. As Agron retreated his head back, tears now running freely down his face, he grasped his once-again boyfriend's head in both of his hands and shakily said:   
  
"I'm sorry, Nasir."  
  
Nasir smiled and replied: "I'm sorry too, Agron. "  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
And later, much, much later, after lots and lots of make-up sex (they did have five months to make up for after all), panting and wrapped up around each other in Agron's bed, the taller man finally asked Nasir about the flowers that he had brought with him, that were now standing inside a vase by the bedside table.   
  
Smiling and kissing his boyfriend's nose tenderly, Nasir replied: "I bought them at this chain store down the street from where I live. They're nice and all, but they're not your flowers."  
  
This made Agron beam and resting his head against Nasir's shoulder, he whispered: "Well, you know what they say, sometimes it's not the gift, but the thought that counts."  
  
"Yeah, it's the thought that counts." repeated Nasir, holding the taller man tighter in his arms.   
  
After a moment of silence between the two and laying back down on the bed, Agron asked the smaller man:  
  
"Nasir?"  
  
"Hmm?" said the once-again yawning, long-haired man.  
  
"Did you mean it when you said all those things that you wanted to do with me?" said a timid-looking Agron, still a bit weary to bring up anything about the future because of how the other man had reacted the last time that he had done so.  
  
"Yeah, I did." answered Nasir, laying his head on Agron's chest and seemed content in hearing the other man's slowing heartbeat.  
  
"I don't want to push you into anything, especially after everything that's happened, but when do you think would be a good time to move in with me?" asked Agron once again, slowly running a hand up and down his boyfriend's sweaty back.  
  
"Hmm, I don't know. How about...soon?" answered Nasir, raising his head to look at his love.  
  
"Soon...soon is nice. ...And what about marriage?" asked Agron, wrapping his arms tighter around the man above him.  
  
"How about...someday?" replied Nasir, his face breaking into a smile as he looked at the other man with utter love in his eyes.  
  
"Yeah, someday. I like someday." said Agron, cupping Nasir's head in his hand.  
  
"I like it too. But I love you." added Nasir, caressing Agron's chest with his own hand.  
  
"I love you too." Agron said, reaching over and giving Nasir a tender kiss on the lips..  
  
"Forever?"  
  
"Forever."  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meanings came from here: http://www.ehow.com/info_8161408_apology-flowers.html
> 
> http://missperfectwoman.com/?p=1625
> 
> http://www.almanac.com/content/meaning-flowers#comment-28156
> 
> http://www.teleflora.com/about-flowers/daffodil.asp


	10. American Linden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nasir gets surprised. (Written from Nasir POV)

**It was with American Linden that they got engaged.**  
  
Four years later, Nasir smiled to himself as he took another sip from his glass of champagne. Tonight was a very important night for Agron and his business, because it was the grand opening of his second flower shop, this one called "Agron's Floral Castle". Sure, it might not have been the most creative title in the universe and was basically just synonyms of the name of his other store, but he wanted to treat the two stores equally and didn't want the attention to be more on one than the other.  
  
Nasir was quite proud of his boyfriend. His hard-working, devoted and wonderful boyfriend. Ever since they'd gotten back together four years earlier, they had become closer than ever. They communicated better and understood each other better, they always seemed to be together wherever they went and hell, they even had more sex than ever, if that was even possible.

And then, one night, four months after reuniting, Nasir had looked at Agron during one of their usual Friday night dinner and had asked him:  
  
 _"Hey, Agron?"_  
  
 _Agron had raised his head, looked at his boyfriend with a smile and said: "Yeah?"_  
  
 _"You know that whole "soon" stuff we talked about when we got back together..."_  
  
 _Agron had raised an eyebrow and said: "Yeah..."_  
  
 _Nasir had smiled and putting a warm hand over his boyfriend's, he'd said: "Well, what do you think about it becoming "now"?"_  
  
 _Agron had blinked in total surprise, but then beamed at Nasir's apparent decision. "Really? You're ready to move in with me?" he'd asked, getting up from his seat and going over to where his boyfriend was sitting._  
  
 _Nasir nodded and replied: "Yeah, I think I am. I want to live with you, Agron."_  
  
 _This made Agron's smile go over his entire face and he engulfed his boyfriend in a warm, tight hug. Retreating his head back a bit, he'd asked Nasir: "And the "someday"?"_  
  
 _Nasir had smiled and leaning his head against the taller man's chest, he'd whispered: "Oh, yeah, "someday" is still in the plans."_  
  
 _"And when would that be?"  had asked Agron, tightening his arms around his love._  
  
 _"Surprise me."_  
  
A hand on his shoulder made Nasir jolt back to the present and back to the post-opening party he was hosting at his and Agron's house. As he turned around, he smiled when he saw his friend Chadara, looking at him with questioning eyes.  
  
"So, are you enjoying yourself?" asked the long-haired man, which was received by a nod and a smile from the blond woman in front of him.  
  
"Awesome party you guys are having here! Where's the celebratory-boy? I wanna congratulate him on a job well done." replied Chadara.  
  
Nasir looked around his living room, Agron was nowhere to be found. _That's funny_ , he thought to himself, _he was right next to me just a minute ago._ He called out to a man that was standing near the door that lead to the kitchen:  
  
"Hey Duro! 'You seen Agron around?"  
  
Duro grinned at the question and simply answered: "Go to the greenhouse, I think he's there." This made Nasir tilt his head suspiciously at the other man and he said to Chadara:  
  
"Well, he's at the greenhouse if you want to see him."  
  
Surprisingly, Chadara shook her head and said: "Nah, I'm good actually. Why don't *you* go at the greenhouse and see him?"  
  
Turning his head to look at Duro and Chadara, Nasir squinted his eyes for a moment at the both of them, wondering what the hell had just gotten into those two and why they wanted him to go see Agron at the greenhouse so badly, but after a minute or so, Nasir did as he was told and walked out of the front door of the house.  
  
After Nasir closed the door behind him, Chadara approached Duro with an excited look on her face and said: "Do you think he knows?"  
  
His grin widening, Duro took a long sip of his champagne and happily replied: "Nah, I think he's going to be quite surprised when he gets there."  
  
 ***********************  
  
"Agron? Agron, where are you? Everybody's told me to get here to see you and I don't know why!" called out Nasir as he opened the door to the huge greenhouse. When no answer came, he frowned and stepped inside the building. He scratched his stubbled beard in total confusion, the one that he'd begun to grow after he and Agron had parted ways because he'd stopped caring about himself, but that Agron had found so sexy when they reunited so Nasir had decided to keep it. He was about to turn on the lights when his eyes widened by what he was seeing in front of him.  
  
It was like million of stars everywhere. From the ground to the ceiling, everywhere he looked, tiny white electric lights had been installed and placed in the middle of all of the still-growing flowers and plants, it was like some kind of Amazonian paradise. [A slow, romantic song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzlGZDzdsPg) was playing in the air and Nasir instantly recognized it: it was the song that he and Agron had danced to on the night of their first official date, right before the fire alarm of his apartment building had rung out and ruined everything.

Walking around and admiring the beauty all around him, the long-haired man spotted something strange just ahead: a bench that he had never seen before had been placed right in the middle of the greenhouse, right between two alleys of potted flowers and as Nasir approached it, he found himself face to face with an unsealed white envelope sitting right on top of it. Picking it up in his hands and turning it over, he felt his eyes water when he saw the round, cursive words written in black ink: _"To Nasir"_.  
  
This was like that night, all those years ago, when he had gone over to Agron's flower shop and dropped an envelope on its floor deliberately right before going to pick up flowers for a bouquet of his choice, leaving Agron to pick it up and discover the other man's hidden feelings for him. But what was this? He recognized Agron's writing, but why did his boyfriend left him a letter?  
  
His curiosity peaked, Nasir opened the envelope and took out a folded piece of paper. When he opened the letter up and began to read it, he saw the most wonderful words he had ever had the pleasure to read:  
  
 _"You said once that talking with flowers was my specialty and while that might be true and I do prefer expressing my feelings through them than through words, I don't think they will do with what I want to say, or should I say write, to you. Because while flowers and plants hold a lot of different meanings and symbols, they cannot even begin to convey how I feel about you, my beautiful, my kind Nasir. If I'm your star and your spark, then you're my light and my flame. You inspire me to be a better man, just like you say I do to you and everyday I feel lucky and blessed to have you into my life._

 _There isn't anybody like you out there, Nasir, you shine like nobody else and I hope you do realize that. I hope that you realize also that despite your fears and your hang-ups about the future, that there is nothing to fear at all about loving someone until their dying day, because I know that that's what I want to do with you, if you'll let me, of course. So, I ask you, my dear, my wonderful best friend and my endless love,_  
  
 _Turn around and look at me,_  
  
 _\--Agron."_  
  
  
Wiping at the corners of his eyes, Nasir did as he read and his whole body just seemed to light up when he saw an emotional Agron, one knee down on the floor in front of the man, holding some [American Linden](http://www.2020site.org/trees/images/LindenFlower.jpg), the symbol of matrimony, in one hand and a gorgeous diamond engagement ring in the other.  
  
"So, wanna make "someday" turn into "now"?" was all Agron asked him, and Nasir, kneeling so that he was eye-to-eye with his boyfriend, smiled and replied with a quick nod of the head and a passionate kiss on the lips:  
  
"Oh yeah, definitely."  
  
And yes, before you ask, Nasir was in fact, surprised.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning found here: http://www.meaningfulmarriages.com/flowers.html


	11. Stephanopotis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it's Nasir and Agron's wedding. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter is short, sorry about that. :(

**It was with Stephanotis that they got married.**  
  
Seven months after getting engaged, the wedding was held at the exact same spot, in the same greenhouse, that had been decorated once again for the occasion. Some plants and flowers had been moved to make place for rows of chairs and the electric white lights that had been there the night of Agron and Nasir's engagement were still there, for the guests to awe at the beauty of them all.   
  
At the front of the greenhouse, a white wooden arch had been placed there, decorated with flowers that had meant the most in the marrying couple's life together: some [yellow roses](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7ktVl1LGRbo/TV31-oxlTZI/AAAAAAAAJAs/PRA0VbK5Hzg/s1600/yellow+rose+flowers+wallpapers+%25284%2529.jpg), [white daisies](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-3Fx_mhlHsf8/T1wGwKq9XMI/AAAAAAAAFxg/WcFgYk2dMs0/s1600/English+Daisy1.jpg), some [blue salvia](http://www.driedflowersdirect.com/Images/photo/blue-salvia.jpg), a [yellow daffodil](http://aknitterinqueens.typepad.com/photos/garden_pictures/yellow_daffodil.jpg) and that was just to name a few.   
  
Agron and Nasir's whole families and friends were there: Chadara had been chosen as the maid of honor while Duro had been picked as the best man. There was also the personnel of both Agron's very successful flower shops and Nasir's colleagues from his gaming company and they were all awaiting the arrival of the loving couple.   
  
Agron was the first to make the trip down the aisle, smiling nervously at the different guests as he walked down each row of chairs. When he finally arrived underneath the arch and in front of the waiting priest, he took a deep, calming breath. He could do this, he thought to himself as he awaited the arrival of his groom. He could marry this man, this gorgeous dream of a man and spend the rest of his life with him.  
  
When the little band that they had hired began to play the wedding march, everyone stood up from their seats and Agron's eyes, and literarily his whole world seemed to focus on the walking man right in front of him. Nasir, looking just gorgeous in his white tuxedo to complement the black one that the other man was wearing, was holding in his hands a bouquet of his choosing, some [Stephanotis](http://www.wedding-flowers-and-reception-ideas.com/images/stephanotis-bouquet01.jpg), the symbol of a happy marriage, that seemed to radiate in the late afternoon sun.

Nasir's face was the look of pure and utter love, smiling tenderly and his eyes shining as he looked at the taller man while slowly approaching him. As he finally found himself face to face with his groom and took his hand, the universe seemed to slow down just for them and all they could see was each other. As the priest in front of them began to recite his rehearsed words, Agron stole a smile with Nasir and together, after exchanging vows, matching rings and kissing in front of the applauding crowd, they finally achieved what they were destined to do since a long and dark-haired man first stepped into a quaint little flower shop to seek some advice to its gorgeous green-eyed owner:  
  
Be together forever.    
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning found here: http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-flowers/articles/symbolic-wedding-flower-meanings.aspx


	12. Orange Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue time!

**It is with Orange Blossoms and all of the flowers in the world that their love will always bloom.**  
  
Some years later, a sleeping Agron was woken up by what seemed like an earthquake at the bottom of his legs and then a gust of wind on the top of his forehead.  
  
His mind taken out of the world of slumber, he could hear a high voice cry out: "Daddy, daddy!" and when he finally opened his eyes, he finally saw what was making all this ruckus: it was his three-year old son, a little rascal of a boy named Pietros, that he and his husband had brought to this world thanks to a very generous surrogate, who was happily bouncing up and down on his bed and saying:   
  
"Happy birthday daddy! Happy birthday daddy! It's your birthday today daddy!"  
  
This made the proud father laugh out loud and reply, while taking his son into his arms and kissing him on the forehead: "Yeah little buddy, it's daddy's birthday today." While he usually was busy at work thanks to what he was calling now the "Agron Flower Emporium", today was a rare day-off for Agron that wasn't on a week-end because it was his birthday and there was noone he'd rather spend it with than with his husband and his son. Speaking of which...  
  
A loving voice coming from the side of the bed made Agron turn his head and his smile widen.   
  
"Yes, it's daddy's birthday today and do you know how we're going to celebrate this special day?" said an amused-looking Nasir, looking at the scene before him while holding a breakfast plate in his hands that were decorated with fruits, pancakes, toasts and in the middle of them, some pretty-looking [Orange Blossoms](http://www.flheritage.com/images/facts/symbols/blossom.jpg). Agron smiled at the sight the flowers, a symbol of eternal love. During all of their years together, Agron and Nasir always gave each other flowers on special occasions or just as a reminder of what the other man meant to them. Even though it had almost become a routine for them to do it, everytime one of them would receive a flower or a bouquet or some sort, he would smile gratefully and respond with a tender kiss and a whispered thank you.  
  
"No, how Other Daddy?" asked Pietros, giggling while Agron tickled him mercifully.  
  
Agron's stopped his tickling and looked at his husband with a grin: "Yeah, how are we going to celebrate my birthday, Other Daddy?"  
  
Nasir laughed at Agron's attempt to imitate their son and making his husband scoot over so that he could sit on their bed, he replied with a smile: "Well, how about a day of just the three of us in bed, watching TV and doing whatever we want?"   
  
That question was responded with a resounding  "Yay!" from the other two boys in the room and as Nasir snuggled closer to his husband and their son, Agron looked at the both of them and at the flowers in the vase that Nasir had brought with his breakfast and thought to himself:  
  
While flowers and plants contained some of the greatest beauty of this world, what he was holding in his arms right now was even more beautiful.  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Flower meaning found here: http://thelanguageofflowers.com/
> 
> Sorry if the last two remaining chapters were so short. :( But anyway, thanks to everybody who left a comment for this story, a kudos, bookmarked it and reviewed it, it really meant the world to me. :D
> 
> I promise to make up for my lack of content in the last chapters with my next story, set-up in an entire new universe. It'll be extra spicy, because of what it's about: two newlyweds going on their honeymoon! 
> 
> This one is coming soon, I promise! :)

**Author's Note:**

> Please, leave me a comment or a kudos and tell me what you think. Thanks! :)


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